


I Must Be Leaving

by pringlesmcgee (kenmarcadeblues)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Eleanor Is A Beard, Gen, Goodbyes, Happy Ending, Implied Conditioning, Larry Stylinson Is Real, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8412652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmarcadeblues/pseuds/pringlesmcgee
Summary: Louis has a physical reaction to Eleanor telling him she's deleted her number from his phone. Add that to the list of things he can thank Management for.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably cliché and it's definitely old but I'm posting it anyways...
> 
> written 3/3/14

Their fingers touched briefly as they both lifted the last box into the car. The last box of a life she had built and shared with him. Both pairs of lips flashed a soft, subconscious smile.

The boy slammed the trunk down. The girl's eyes scrolled up and down his body, taking in the handsome form standing before her. The soft morning light hit his features just right: his blue eyes, just a shade darker than her own, were sparkling like freshwater springs, and his smooth skin appeared gold-dusted in the crisp air. She was preserving the details of him in this moment, just like she had so many other times. _He was just a baby_ , she thought, imagining his boyish face one of the first times they met. _I was too, I guess._ Her eyes examined his now chiseled, stubbly face. _And he's grown into a beautiful man._ She couldn't help thinking that she possibly, maybe somehow, had a tiny part in this transformation. _So many things have changed since then_ , she sighed to herself. So many, it almost seemed crazy. She relived more fond memories of him, fingers teasing a piece of hazel colored hair while her mind traveled.

  
"Well, I guess this is it, then," he said, filling the emptiness that hung in the air between them.

  
She nodded. "I guess it is." She gazed down at the almond brown leather boots that adorned her feet, studying them intently. Then she glanced back up and saw that he was doing the same. _We really are alike_ , she mused. _Or maybe I've just rubbed off on him. Maybe I've left my mark._

  
Suddenly she found herself bounding forward and enveloping him into a warm hug. He returned it gratefully, but she held on tightly.

  
"To be honest, I'll kind of miss putting up with your shit," he confessed, warm breath tickling her ear.

  
"Same here," she replied with a twinkly laugh, although she knew he wasn't joking. Definitely not after everything they'd been through. Not after all of this.

  
They stood there in comfortable silence, entwined in each other's arms. "Give me your phone," she whispered softly.

  
The boy pulled away. _Wait, what the hell?_  he exclaimed to himself. _One minute we're all touchy-feely, the next she just-_

  
"Please," she insisted, seeing his look of utter confusion. He reached into the pocket of his dark blue skinny jeans and retrieved his iPhone. She tapped in the passcode and her fingers could be seen roaming swiftly about the screen. Seconds later, she returned it to him with a look that said, 'All fixed'. But his phone wasn't broken, it had been perfectly fine. Hadn't it?

  
"What'd you do?" he asked, peering down at the gadget to see if he could spot any changes.

  
"I deleted my number," she stated simply.

  
Without warning the boy's body began to tremble visibly and his breaths became ragged. His hands flew up, cupping his face in distress. She grabbed him and rubbed his back gingerly, resting her head on his shoulder. "Shhh," she cooed, "it's okay. You can do it. Do it for you. Do it for your happiness." He broke away from her grip, a flicker of panic still present in his sapphire eyes, lungs taking in a large breath.

  
"Thanks," he said, running a hand through his crazy, fluffy hair, "I mean, trust me, in the end I've always known it wouldn't be easy, but now...well I didn't count on it getting this hard. And I'm still so scared."

  
He felt a gentle grab on his forearm. Her blue irises were peering into him as if he were made of cellophane.

  
"Louis William Tomlinson." He liked the way his name rolled off her tongue. Almost as if she had uttered a short prayer. "Sweet, lovely, warm, ridiculous, crazy, strong, handsome, intelligent, incredibly kind-hearted. Every day I see you be all of this and more." At this his cheeks couldn't help but go a little pink despite the fact that they were alone. Even now, he wasn't sure how to take her compliments. And this was by far the heaviest praise he had received from her. "But now," she told him, "I want to see you be brave."

  
He sighed. "Do you know how many times I've heard that out of someone's mouth? I'm not stupid. Of course I'll be brave." Though his voice didn't sound too sure.

  
"Listen," she said, caressing his cheek a bit, "it's okay if you don't make it on the first try, but knowing you, if you just keep at it, sooner or later you'll score."

Louis rolled his eyes. _Nice choice of metaphor_ , he thought sarcastically. But he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to ruin one of the last moments he had with her. _Last moments_. He wasn't sure whether that made him feel sad or happy. A mix, he decided, it was somewhere inbetween right here and over there.

  
"I think this is the last time we'll be seeing each other," he murmured after a while.

  
"Yeah," she breathed.

  
He made direct eye contact with her again. "So, um, promise me you'll root for me from...wherever it is you end up."

She nodded and gave him one last little squeeze. "Always." The car door opened and she squished herself behind the steering wheel.

  
A yellow leaf held Louis' gaze captive. It drifted down slowly, slowly, released from its prison on the branch of its tree, riding the gentle wind on its journey to embrace the Earth. "We're free, El," he whispered, seemingly to the leaf.

  
The leaf didn't answer him, but she did. "Right."

  
"Do me a favor and have a nice life, yeah?" His tone was friendly rather than sarcastic.

  
She winked at him. "I'll try." She waved her hand and shut the door.

"Au revoir."

  
She sighed. "Au revoir." She still couldn't believe what was happening. It'd probably sink in tomorrow when she woke up to an empty flat and no texts or calls telling her when and where she had to stand in front of the blinding cameras for the "sake of the public", as they had put it.

  
The engine rumbled to life as the girl turned her keys in the ignition. Foot hitting the pedal, she cruised on, leaving Louis standing to the side of the dead, rarely traveled street on which he resided.

  
_I caught sight of him in the rear view mirror. It was like I was looking at both a stranger and an old friend, like I was abandoning an orphan but also releasing a tiger back into the wilderness. My heart felt heavy then, but not a bad kind of heavy. I felt a smile spread across my face. My name is Eleanor J. Calder and it looks like I'm out of a job._


End file.
